


Stay Together

by sxfaraway



Category: Take That, barlowen - Fandom, gary barlow - Fandom, mark owen - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:07:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22860727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sxfaraway/pseuds/sxfaraway
Summary: Things have been tense between Mark and Gary - Mark’s finally coming clean to Gary through song.
Relationships: Mark Owen/Gary Barlow
Kudos: 6





	Stay Together

**Author's Note:**

> Possibly more chapters, maybe just a cliffhanger ending. Still debating!

“Ready, Mark?”

The question rung in the singer’s ears, dreading answering. He knew he needed to confirm that he was, no matter how reluctant and sad he would be with it. The song that the boys were waiting to record had really pulled a lot out of Mark and he just knew that it would show as he sang it through. Especially being the first time he would be singing it in front of anyone - In front of **him**.

It was no secret that Mark and Gary had been together for years. Despite differences and minor disputes, the pair were all around good together. They had always just had a knack for evening each other out in every way one could imagine. For some reason, though, that was changing. Too fast and too sudden was Mark’s world tumbling down around him. Gary was seeming to withdraw and pull away from their relationship, home life becoming lonely and studio time bordering on awkward. Maybe Gary didn’t realise what was going on. He could really get to be oblivious to his emotions, couldn’t he? Surely that was it, Mark endlessly tried to assure himself. Still, it really seemed as though his lover was becoming a stranger before his eyes.

No matter the efforts, the younger male seemed to get nowhere with gaining the elder’s affections back. But, if there was **anything** that would get through to Barlow, it was music. Maybe that was what Mark needed to do - Use music to reach through to him. In writing the song in hand, the song that was about to be run through with the rest of the band, that was exactly what he was about to do. Even if that meant breaking his own heart in front of all three other members and not just Gary. It was time to do what he had feared doing for what was starting to feel like an eternity.

With a deep and shaky breath, he nodded and started in on the first verse, closing his eyes as he sang.

“Oh, love, tell me now.

Is there room for me in your company?

Cause my heart aches.

To see yours break.

Can we both pick up the pieces?”

Gary had looked up at Mark when the words to what was clearly a ballad opposed to something upbeat were sung. His expression didn’t falter in the slightest, although his heart was seizing in his chest at Mark’s disposition. Sad. He was thoroughly sad and that was obvious already.

Mark avoided looking at Gary through that small bit of singing, pausing a moment before he went into the chorus. This time, though, his bright blue eyes met Gary’s green pair, clearly singing it at him now.

“Let’s just try to stay together.

Find a way to make it better.

Maybe, you and me, baby.

Let’s just try to work it out.

We've come too far to give up now.

Baby, don’t let me down.”

The pair of troubled lovers remained locked on each other as Mark sang, the younger keeping composed until he started up the third verse.

“Cause I can’t lie that I’m not scared.

I’m turning into someone else,

I’m twisting up inside.

Don’t tell me please, don’t tell me now, don’t tell me it’s over.”

Tears welled in his eyes a bit, voice cracking as he sang that verse, managing through the last of the song soon after. By the time it was all said and done and Mark had given a little run through of the song, the singer was fighting to maintain a small smile, those tears fully visible in his light eyes.

“I— Excuse me,” was all that Mark could force out before he was moving out of the studio, trying to be discreet about wiping his cheeks dry. It wasn’t until he was outside the building, able to find privacy in a small back garden to simply sit and cry. There was no use in trying to make himself comfortable in it, his seat was nothing more than a hard, cold slab of stone. With knees bent to his chest, it was only moments before Mark was sent into a quiet fit of tears, arms hugging over his chest in some futile attempt to offer himself the comfort he was needing desperately.

Completely caught in his thoughts and the choked, muffled cries leaving him, Owen hadn’t noticed the footsteps that had followed him swiftly out of the studio. Until he heard a painfully familiar voice come softly from behind him.

“Marky..?”

Keeping himself tucked into his own secure embrace, Mark shifted enough to carefully wipe his face before looking up at Gary with a feigned smile, eyes still glossy and sad.

“Yeah, Gaz?” came from him in a scratchy tone, the man clearing his throat hardly a moment after as if he had planned on speaking further. If he had been completely honest, he was far from in the right place to be around anyone right then. If he needed anything, it was to cry; to let out all of the emotions that he had been suppressing for far too long. Being in Gary’s presence, especially after pouring his heart into the song he had just sung to all of them, had him feeling vulnerable as ever.

It took Mark by surprise when Gary seated himself next to him, jumping the slightest bit when their legs brushed. It was more of a surprise when the elder turned to face his lover, pulling Mark into a protective embrace, holding the other tight to his chest. That one action had the flood gates opening, tears spilling from his eyes as he collapsed into Gary, face pressing into his neck as he gripped the other male’s shirt in shaky fists. “Can we please fix this, Gaz..? I don’t know what’s wrong lately.. But please let me fix it. I can’t lose you..” As he spoke, his shaky, gentle voice soon collapsed into a depressed and desperate plea rambled out into Gary’s neck. “Please don’t leave me, Gazza..”


End file.
